Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

Little Edie—‘Grey Gardens’ Fashion Icon

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 23:12:00 -0700

In honor of Little Edie, who is portrayed by Rachel York in The Shop team members who didn’t speak Spanish participated in Spanish language lessons to help them better communicate with the participants. We also hired a pair of professional translators to translate all flyers, online content, and hand-outs so that information could be shared with everyone.

I volunteered to be the designated translator at our workshops. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking! I learned Spanish from my parents, and we mostly talked about food, school, or stories from back home in Mexico. Nowhere in our conversations did we talk about “stamp pad foams” (“hula espuma”), “fine grit sand paper” (“papel de lija”), “methocel” (“methocel” in Spanish as well), and definitely not “crystalline-silica free alginate” (“alginato sin sílica cristalina”), all of which are used in the technical area of theatre and would be part of our workshops. To be honest, I don’t even know what some of these things are in English, let alone Spanish. Luckily, our professional translators are well versed in theatre terminology in addition to Spanish from Mexico, Argentina, and the United States. This is important because there are slight variations in meaning of certain words across North America. Their translations are my cheat sheets.

In Action

At the top of each workshop, we ask people to raise their hands to help us identify the Spanish speakers. If the workshop is made up of all bilingual speakers—which rarely happens—we continue with the workshop in English, and I become another assistant in the room. But usually, I stand near the lead teaching artist, and we work in tandem, taking turns to give instructions in English then in Spanish. The teacher speaks, and either we find a natural pause for me, or I interrupt before too many sentences pass.

Although I have no formal training in translation, I turned out to be a great candidate for translator because I speak Spanish, am an artist, and teach. I am knowledgeable enough about the the material to translate as well as answer questions and assist with the art-making while the instructor might be busy helping someone else out. It also helps that I grew up in a bilingual home. It’s easy for me to translate on the spot something very formal to something informal, which is a great way to make people laugh and create a sense of ease in the class.

What We've Learned

It wasn’t as easy to come up with this format as it might seem. Originally, we asked Spanish speakers to huddle in one section of the room, and I’d speak directly to them. At one point, we considered using audio description listening devices like the ones Center Theatre Group’s Center Theatre Group intern Michael Stancliff. “Everyone is so welcoming and passionate; you can’t help but feel like part of a community right away.”

5 Musicals Showcasing ‘Stage Moms’

Emily Moneymaker — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 20:22:00 -0700

The Light in the Piazza
Ciao! Based on the 1960 novella of the same name by Elizabeth Spencer, The Light in the Piazza tells the story of a developmentally challenged young woman, Clara, and her overbearing mother, Margaret. When Clara falls in love with a starry-eyed Italian while vacationing in Florence, her mother must come to terms with the fact that while her daughter may be a little different, “she mustn’t be made to accept less from life just because she isn't like you or me.” The original 2005 Broadway production featured Victoria Clark as Margaret, for which she won the Tony Award^®, and six-time Tony nominee Kelli O’Hara as her daughter.
Gypsy
The true star of the 1959 musical Gypsy isn’t the eponymous real-life striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee but her mother, Rose, who is the ultimate stage mom, and who has been played over the years by Ethel Merman, Bernadette Peters, and Patti Lupone. In the famous tune “Rose’s Turn,” it becomes clear just how bitter Rose is that her children are more successful than she ever was: “If it wasn’t for me / then where would you be, Miss Gypsy Rose Lee? / Well, someone tell me when is it my turn? / Don’t I get a dream for myself?” The part of Mama Rose is regularly lauded as one of Broadway’s most iconic roles of all time; when the 2003 Broadway revival opened, The New York Times’ Ben Brantley described the character as musical theatre’s most daunting maternal role.
Mamma Mia!
After bride-to-be Sophie tries to find her birth father so he can walk her down the aisle, hilarity ensues in this smash hit featuring music from Swedish rock group ABBA. In the song “Slipping Through My Fingers,” Sophie’s mother, Donna, is forced to come to terms with the fact that her little girl isn’t so little anymore: “Do I really see what’s in her mind / each time I think I’m close to knowing / she keeps on growing / slipping through my fingers all the time.” The original Broadway production played 5,758 performances, making it the eighth-longest running production in Broadway history and the longest running jukebox musical of all time. Mamma mia!
Carrie
Growing up is no easy feat, especially with (and for) an overprotective mother—at least according to Stephen King. In the Broadway musical version of the book and movie, Margaret, mother to high school misfit Carrie, turns to the bible to deal with the reality that her little girl has become a women. Originally portrayed on Broadway in 1988 by Grey Gardens’ very own Betty Buckley, Margaret sings of her twisted hopes for her daughter early in the show: “Father, don’t forsake her / Father, take her / cleanse and purify her with the fire!” But by the time the curtain falls, things have taken a gruesome turn. Public opinion of Carrie is sharply divided; The New Yorker said that the show may be the most legendary flop of all time.
Hairspray
Tracy Turnblad, a precocious girl who just wants to dance in 1960s Baltimore, has a few things in common with Little Edie despite being a member of a different generation. Both young women want to get out of the house and into the wider world. Both believe they have a talent for dancing. And both have mothers who don’t want to leave the comfort of their house. Tracy, however, introduces her reclusive mother to the foreign world past her front door: “I know tha: the world’s spinning fast now / But you gotta run the race to win the prize / Hey mama, welcome to the ’60s.” Interestingly, the maternal role is commonly portrayed by a man; Divine (1988 film), Harvey Fierstein (2002 Broadway production), and John Travolta (2007 Musical film) have all donned slippers and a robe to portray this famous “stage mom.”

Students Discuss Faith, Identity, and ‘Art Activism’

Chase Cope — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 01:05:00 -0700

The Forum started with an introduction to the play and its characters, followed by three hour-long workshops focusing on faith and belief, identity, and “art activism.”

At the center of Disgraced are a few different characters’ struggles with identity. Emily, who is white, is infatuated with Muslim art; her husband Amir (who was born into the Muslim faith) wants to get away from Islam; and Abe, Amir’s nephew, has adapted to American culture while keeping his Muslim faith. Our workshop on identity did not focus on scholarly or philosophical perceptions of identity; instead, we talked about how identity works in our own lives.

The workshop on faith affected the way I viewed the play the most. The thing about teenagers and faith is this: we all have opinions about it, but for various reasons we never share them. I loved that this workshop was a safe, open place for us to discuss this topic. I was surprised by how many of us hate how the news handles religion in current events, especially fear-mongering about Muslims.

Disgraced is centered around a discussion that turns into an argument. The faith workshop really was about discussion (no arguments though), and let everyone get a chance to have their voice heard. It also had us learning more about the Muslim faith specifically. It was great to see how even when someone didn't know something they were still hungry to learn more, since so many of us mostly or only hear stigmas and stereotyping.

The third and final workshop focused on “art activism,” which showed how a myriad of art forms can promote change around social issues. We identified art that has already promoted change (like Disgraced), then separated into teams to create our own ideas for art activism projects. The best part was how many different types of art forms and issues were covered. Every team came up with a different idea, truly showcasing how much change we all can create, big or small.

The ending of Disgraced was more cynical than I expected. The play asks a lot of questions but doesn't provide dogmatic, easy answers. It respects the audience’s ability to think about these topics and draw their own opinions. I loved the opportunity to talk about these issues in the Youth Theatre Forum beforehand, then watch the play and draw my own conclusions.

Welcome to ‘Grey Gardens’

Center Theatre Group — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 00:22:00 -0700

Grey Gardens (1975): Meet Little Edie and Big Edie Bouvier Beale, and watch the trailer for the documentary’s 2015 theatrical re-release (or see the complete film on Hulu):
Grey Gardens (2009): Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange played the Beales in the HBO movie Grey Gardens, which received 17 Emmy Award nominations and won six, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie:
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Drag Queen Jinx Monsoon did a spot-on Little Edie impression on season five of RuPaul’s Drag Race:
Documentary Now!: They live in a mansion called Sandy Passages and have different names, but Bill Hader and Fred Armisen sound a lot like the Beales in their 2015 Documentary Now! parody of Grey Gardens:
The New Normal: And as a bonus, here’s The New Normal cast talking about actress Bebe Wood’s impression of Little Edie:

Stage Talks Bring Audiences Together After ‘Disgraced’

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 23:45:00 -0700

“I think the post-show discussions are sort of like Act II of the play,” said Behzad Dabu, who plays Abe, the nephew of protagonist Amir. “The amount of people that stay, that engage, and that later come up to me and say that the discussion was enlightening is truly amazing. Literally hundreds of people during my time with the show have come up to me to share thoughts about how the discussion impacted them as much as the show did.”

Hari Dhillon, who plays Amir, and Emily Swallow, who plays his wife (also named Emily), agreed that they were happily surprised—and inspired—by the sheer number of people who choose to stay for the Stage Talks. “This play is meant to start a dialogue, and having such a dialogue in a group gives people the opportunity to see things about the play they might not have noticed from their own perspective,” said Swallow.

Added Dhillon, “It’s very interesting to see the intensity of intellectual and emotional engagement that the audience has with the piece and is willing to share.”

Most of the Stage Talks begin with the Concierge staff moderator asking remaining audience members, who often filled the lower level of the Taper, for first impressions, and what they are thinking and feeling right after the play. Responses have ranged from empathy and admiration to shock and dismay at the violence toward the end of Disgraced. Audience members also offered their analysis of the characters and their motivations, digging more deeply into lives, relationships, and histories beyond their onstage actions.

Then, cast members—more often than not all five of them—made their way back to the stage to participate in the discussion. “We often have people ask us what certain things in the play mean, but it’s more interesting to hear their impressions than to voice our own,” said Swallow. “I am moved by how many people identify with Amir in terms of trying to find themselves in the midst of all the ideas about what the world wants them to be.”

Audience members from a variety of backgrounds have found that Amir’s experience resonates with their own, including questions about identity and Americanness as well as religion and faith. They’ve also had autobiographical questions for the cast and about the playwright, including how much of the play comes from writer Ayad Akhtar’s personal experience. (“Almost none of it,” said Dhillon. “There was an instance where Ayad was at a dinner party, and he mentioned Islam and he felt the room shift against him, but that’s largely it.”)

There was a lot of curiosity about how the actors prepare and decompress for emotionally demanding roles. “There is an army of people offstage to help wipe off the spit at the end of that [argument] scene,” joked J Anthony Crane, who plays the art dealer Isaac. “Seriously though, it’s actually our job as actors to let these things go.”

In the wake of the Orlando shooting, which happened mid-run, an audience member asked the cast how current events change their perspective on the play.

“I don't think it changes the actors; it changes the audience’s experiences,” said Karen Pittman, who plays Jory. “I am looking forward to when this play becomes another immigrant play that fits into the American theatre canon.”

Ultimately, the Stage Talks created a completely unique space for everyone in the theatre to come together around a play of provocative ideas and raw feeling. Swallow said a friend who came to see the play pointed out the importance of such a space in a society that can feel polarized. “In our day-to-day lives, we don’t take the time to listen; we are intent on expressing our own passionate point of view and being heard,” said Swallow. “But having the discussion in a group setting gives people a chance to listen and absorb without needing a retort. I hope it encourages greater understanding.”

Ayad Akhtar Exposes Cultural Cracks

Center Theatre Group — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 20:54:00 -0700

In an interview last year, Akhtar told Newsweek, Roth broke ground for me:

I was reading Roth, [Saul] Bellow, Chaim Potok, watching Woody Allen, watching Seinfeld. Those were the artists who made me understand, Oh, this is how I can write about my community, which is an American community but also an ethnic community. It’s a religious identity, and it’s one that has its own aesthetics and its own humor and textures...Potok was writing about Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, and I remember reading him as a teenager and thinking, I’m reading about my own people. I know these people. I see them every weekend. They’re Muslims in Milwaukee, but they might as well be Hasidim.

Akhtar also told Newsweek about one of his first public events to support his novel American Dervish:

'In the front row were a line of Pakistani-American mothers,' Akhtar recalls. 'They’re all lined up, looking at me askance, arms crossed. At the very end of the interview, one of them raised her hand and said, "We all drove in from the suburbs. We all read your book for our book club. None of us are going to speak to you except for me. And I just want to tell you that we need to understand what it is we need to do so that our children don’t turn out like you."'

That’s in fact less harsh than some of the responses Roth received to his story "Defender of the Faith," which appeared in The New Yorker before being collected in Goodbye, Columbus. One letter to the magazine accused Roth of having done as much harm as all the organized anti-Semitic organizations have done to make people believe that all Jews are cheats, liars, connivers. Another letter to the Anti-Defamation League asked, What is being done to silence this man? Medieval Jews would have known what to do with him.

In the Center Theatre Group podcast, Disgraced director Kimberly Senior offered her take on such critiques: When you’re exposing the cultural cracks, the inheritance, the mantle that a culture wears, there’s always going to be one person negating it and somebody else trying to make it warm and fuzzy. That’s the nature of exposing these fault lines.

Akhtar added, If you don’t show characters in all of their humanity and their failings and their rage, then you don’t have characters that are interesting to an audience.

The risk of offending comes with the territory Akhtar’s work treads, which he acknowledged in a 2012 interview with The Islamic Monthly:

Csezlaw Milosz, the great Polish poet, once said that when a writer is born into a family, that family is finished. I think something similar can be said for a community. When a writer is born into a community, there is a sense in which nothing is sacred anymore. Nothing except the process of self-questioning. The writer is a witness. Someone who will speak of what she or he has seen and lived.

Teaching Artist and Prop Master Extraordinaire Merrianne Nedreberg

Estela Garcia — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 01:30:00 -0700

Associate Prop Master Merrianne Nedreberg has taught Block Painting, Life Casting, Lantern Making, Furniture Building, and Furniture Painting and Upholstery workshops over the past three years at The Shop. These free workshops are really fun because we have created an environment where participants feel comfortable taking risks, trying something new, and experimenting with their art-making. That—and we don’t let the language barrier get in the way of us laughing together. Merrianne only speaks English, so I translate on the spot while she teaches groups of up to 20 people of all ages.

For me, translating is a necessary bridge between Center Theatre Group and the community. I see my mom and my aunts in many of the ladies at our workshops. As child of Spanish-only speakers, I am used to being the translator, so when I translate, I do so as if I were doing it for family. I not only translate words but help translate content as a surrogate teacher at times. But I wanted to know what it feels like for Merrianne, so I asked her a few questions about her experience with the translating process in advance of our last workshops of the year.

Estela Garcia:: What is your experience as a teacher who only speaks English teaching a Spanish-speaking group?
Merrianne Nedreberg:: So far my experiences have been good, but that is massively thanks to having you there to help. It's always a little scary that the message or steps of the project might not translate. But the interesting thing about creating is that it’s mostly visual anyways.
What are the challenges of having someone translate while you teach?: The biggest challenge is pace—having to pause and to remember to make them natural pauses [so that you can translate what I’ve just said]. It's also hard when we get more into the hands-on part of the workshops, and I'm asked a question and you aren't right there. Mostly the other class members help, or I do a visual aid which translates.
What are some of the successes?: I think each class has been a success. We are obviously getting the message across to everyone.
What were your first thoughts about having a translator?: Oh thank God, ’cause I don't know how to speak Spanish, and I want everyone to be able to easily learn.
I translate to the whole room when we work together, but with other folks I’ve translated just to those who need it. Would you be interested in experimenting at all?: It really makes me feel better just having you next to me. The truth is I can't easily communicate with most of the class, and having you who can right there keeps me involved with the entire class.
About Merrianne: Merrianne Nedreberg grew up in the small town of Eureka, Utah, and has been working in theatre since she was 5. Merrianne graduated high school with her Associate of Science from Utah Valley State College and went on to get a bachelor’s of science in technical theatre at Southern Utah University, where she found her love of working on props. She spent four seasons at the Utah Shakespearean Festival while attending school, starting as a prop intern and working up to prop artisan. She then went on to get her master of fine arts degree in properties design and management from CalArts. She has worked as the Assistant Prop Master at the Old Globe Theatre and propped shows at a variety of theatres and venues including Highways Performance Space, the Getty Villa, and A Noise Within. Merrianne started working for Center Theatre Group in 2008; she is now the Associate Prop Manager, working in all three of Center Theatre Group’s spaces. She specializes in prop carpentry, welding, upholstery, painting, creating puppets, crafts, and paper props.

10 Musical Tributes to Food: A List Inspired by ‘Jerry Likes My Corn’

Emily Moneymaker — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 18:59:00 -0700

“Food, Glorious Food” (Oliver!)
The show’s opening number, written by Lionel Bart, finds Oliver and his fellow workhouse boys—whose meals consist merely of a small morsel of gruel—imagining a life where food is bountiful: “food, glorious food / we’re anxious to try it / three banquets a day / our favorite diet.” Since Oliver!'s London premiere in 1960, this catchy show tune has become a part of pop culture; parodies can be found in various films and television shows including Ice Age: The Meltdown, SpongeBob SquarePants, and American Dad!

“Vanilla Ice Cream” (She Loves Me)
In “Vanilla Ice Cream,” shop employee Amalia realizes that her feelings for George, a co-worker, have slowly morphed from hatred to love. She Loves Me tells the story of this pair who, while constantly at odds with each other in their daily lives, are unknowingly pen pals. Sound familiar? The show shares its source material, the Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László, with the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan and the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. She Loves Me premiered on Broadway in 1963 and has recently been given a second life in a Tony Award^®-nominated revival starring Zachary Levi, Jane Krakowski, and Laura Benanti.

“A Real Nice Clambake” (Carousel)
The second collaboration by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Carousel tells the story of a young girl’s romance with a carousel barker in a small Maine town in the 1870s. “A Real Nice Clambake” finds the townspeople talking of the wonders of the meal they just finished, including codfish chowder and salted pork. While not as well-known as some of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s other musicals—which include Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music—Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20^th century in 1999.

“Suppertime” (You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown)
Perhaps the most enthusiastic person to ever sing about food onstage isn’t a person at all, but one of America’s most famous canines. In the razzle dazzle number “Suppertime,” composed by Clark Gesner, Snoopy sings the praises of his favorite meal of the day—much to the chagrin of his loyal companion Charlie Brown. Roger Bart, who provided the singing voice for Disney’s animated film Hercules, won the Tony for his portrayal of Snoopy when the show returned to Broadway in 1999.

“Suppertime” (Little Shop of Horrors)
Although it shares a name with Snoopy’s “Suppertime,” the lyrics, the tone, the singer, and the show this song comes from could not be more different. Written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, Little Shop of Horrors chronicles the attempts of a florist, Seymour, to woo a co-worker named Audrey by raising a man-eating plant. In “Suppertime,” the plant, Audrey 2, pleads with Seymour for more food. Four years after its off-Broadway premiere, the musical went from the stage to the screen with a cast that included Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, and Ellen Greene.

“Les Poissons” (The Little Mermaid)
Another collaboration between Little Shop of Horrors duo Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, “Les Poissons” (“the fish” in French) is Chef Louis’ homage to seafood, sung to beloved crustacean Sebastian: “Here we go, in the sauce / Now some flour I think just a dab / Now I stuff you with bread / Don't worry, ’cause you’re dead.” The Little Mermaid film enjoyed critical success when it premiered in 1989 and is commonly credited as the beginning of the highly successful “Eisner Era” of Disney animation. The stage version opened in New York in 2008, but garnered less favorable reviews than its source material and closed after only two years on Broadway.

“Be Our Guest” (Beauty and the Beast)
Ashman and Menken must love food. In “Be Our Guest” from their Beauty and the Beast, the enchanted objects that reside in the mansion of the Beast attempt to cheer up their guest of honor, Belle, by singing of beef ragout, cheese soufflé, pie and pudding, en flambé—and urging her to “try the gray stuff, it’s delicious!” The film’s Broadway production marked Disney’s first foray into live theatre—a move that has proved serendipitous (with The Little Mermaid being an exception to the rule). Since Beauty and the Beast’s Broadway premiere in 1994, six more Disney films have graced The Great White Way, including The Lion King, Newsies, and most recently, Aladdin.

“Coffee Break” (How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying)
Is coffee a food? Definitely, for the office workers of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In “Coffee Break,” composed by Frank Loesser, the hardworking employees of the World Wide Wicket Company sing of the beverage’s magical properties and lament the fact that without it, “something within me dies.” Does this sound like anyone you know?

“The Night They Invented Champagne” (Gigi)
Written by songwriting team Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Gigi’s title character is a spritely young Parisian at the turn of the 20^th century being trained as a courtesan. In “The Night They Invented Champagne,” she sings the praises of the bubbly beverage and the adventures that accompany its consumption (“Fly to the sky on champagne / And shout to everyone in sight”). In 2015 Gigi received its first Broadway staging in over 40 years, starring Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame.

“Worst Pies in London” (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Sweeney Todd’s re-introduction to his old landlord, Mrs. Lovett, is inauspicious, as the meat pie baker complains of how disgusting her creations are: “It’s nothing but crusting / Here drink this, you’ll need it / The worst pies in London.” The world first met Sweeney Todd in the 1840s, in the Victorian penny dreadful String of Pearls. One hundred sixty years later, the character re-entered the limelight with the release of a film adaptation directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as the demon barber.